By B.C. Manion
She lives at Heartland Zephyrhills, a nursing home in Zephyrhills, but during her glory years, Frances Ingalls acted with Helen Hayes, Dorothy and Lillian Gish and other megastars of the day.
The 88 year old said she became enamored with acting while she was still in high school.
She was cast in the role of “Topsy” in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and she made the most of the part.
The response by the audience was encouraging.
“What I did made people laugh,” she said.
The native of Pelham, N.Y., wanted to be a doctor when she was a little girl, according to a Dec. 25, 1961 report in the Boston Globe. But then her interest shifted to acting while she was in high school.
She wound up becoming both a nurse and an actress.
During the day, she donned her uniform and nursing cap and tended to patients; at night, she put on costumes and turned her attention to the audience.
Over the years, she accumulated quite a number of acting credits for work done on Broadway, off-Broadway, in regional theaters, community theaters and on television.
Her work ran the gamut — from comedy to drama to tragedy, and her performances drew acclaim from a number of theater critics.
Some characters she played through the years included Mrs. Tarleton, in the off-Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Misalliance,” Olivia in “The Chalk Garden,” with Lillian and Dorothy Gish, and Dorothea in “Eleemosynary.”
She also made appearances on a variety of television programs during the 1950s, including the “Barretts of Wimpole Street,” featuring Helen Hayes.
In the Nov. 6, 1953 edition of The New York Times, Ingalls’ acting abilities received high praise.
“Easily the most impressive portion of the bill last evening was the scene from Maxwell Anderson’s “Elizabeth the Queen,” where Essex is recalled from Ireland to face charges of conspiracy against the crown. Frances Ingalls gives a moving performance of the declining Queen. She is at once moving, proud, vindictive and properly ambitious,” the New York Times’ critic wrote.
In a Dec. 6, 1955 review, The Chicago Daily Tribune described Ingalls as “a dedicated young actress who plays the scrubwoman” in the play, “Anastasia.”
In July 1957, Ingalls played the husband-hunting widow in “The Circus of Dr. Lao,” starring Burgess Meredith, according to a news clipping from the Chicago Daily News.
Working with Meredith was wonderful, Ingalls said.
She also enjoyed working with Helen Hayes, whom she considered to be a consummate professional.
Over the years, she performed on stages in New York, Boston, Chicago and other cities, acting in plays penned by such playwrights as Thornton Wilder, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw and Eugene O’Neill.
Her nephew, Monty Montieth, who lives in San Antonio?, recalls watching a couple of his aunt’s performances.
He was amazed by her transformation into the characters she played.
Ingalls said she always had a knack for memorizing her lines and she enjoyed stepping into the role of her character.
She said the highpoint of her acting career probably came from the work she did with the Gish sisters in “The Chalk Garden.”
“They were so well-known,” Ingalls said.
